Wagon.



J] m a a u E. M. WHEELOGK.

WAGON.

7 APPLICATION FILED JAILZI, 1913. 1,080,035.

firm??? fan Edam/r7 JfWer/ac- By Ii 5/3 .iF/armsy 71 271766563: flfaEDWIN MHWHEELOCK, OF WINONA, MINNESQTA.

WAGON.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 21, 1913.Serial No. 748,261.

Patented neea, iota,

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, EDWIN M. WHEELOGK, a citizen of the United States,residing at WVinona, in the county of Winona and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wagons, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to wagons and particularly to the draft andsteering mechanisms of wagons.

It is the object of my. invention to providedraft means which shalloperate directly upon the center bar orreach of the wagon and at thesame time will exercise control upon' the wheels of the wagon to causethe same to be guidedin going around curves so that the front and rearwheels of the wagon will follow in a'single track.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear inconnection with the detailed description thereof and are particularlypointed out in. the claims.

In the drawings',-illustrating the applica tion of my invention in oneform, Figure 1 is a plan view of a wagonhaving my improvements appliedthereto. Fig.12 is anenlarged sectional View on line 2.--2 of Fig. 1.Figs.- 3 and 4 aredetail views. Fig. 5

is a diagram showing the relative position.

of parts as a train of wagons passes around a curve; y 1 y The frontandrear portions of my wagon structure are identical. in' Fig. 2therefore which are taken from the left of the wagon shown in Fig; 1 areexactly the same asthe similar parts at the right thereof. The box ofthe wagon is indicated diagrammatically-by the numeral 10 and issupported by a central reach 11 which may be of T-iron and channel beams12 and 13 to which the reach 11 and the box 10 are securely bolted. Ateach end of the reach 11 is secured'a member 13 of the form shown inFig. 4, which comprises the bifurcated-- end portion 14 straddling theflange ofthe T-member 11 and secured thereto bymeans of bolts 15, asclearly indicated in Fig. 2.,

The member 13 is provided with a forwardly extended round shank 16 inwhich is a hole 17 extending at right angles to a plane passing throughfork 14. The front and rear axles 18 and 19 preferably consist ofchannel beams andare supported upon the extended portions 16 of members13.-

This is accomplished by means of a bearing member 20 through which theextension 16 The parts shown tal I clevis 34 has therein a transverseaperture protrudes, said bearing member) being formed upon a plate2 1-bolted to the backof channel beams 18. Links 22 and 23 are shownsecuring the ends of crossbar 13 to the axle 19. for holding the box10in hori-' crossbar 13 at one side of the box 10- be omitted and thebox secured directly to the axle 18. The links 22 and 23, however, beinginterchangeable, make it practicable to use either axle 18 or 19 as theoscillable axle when both axles have the connection to the box and reachabove described and shown specifically in Fig. 2. Upon the ends of axlemembers 18 and 19 are journaled upon vertical pivots 24 short axlesections 25 having thereon carrying wheels 26. Extending downwardly fromsaid axle sections 25 are arms 27 pivotally connected by means of links28, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. At one side only of axles 18 and19 the sections 25 are provided with additional arms 29 fallingvertically above the arms 27 for a purpose later to be given.

As above stated, the pin-like extension of member 13 is'provided with anaperture 17. A plate 30 is secured to the top of channel 12 havingtherein an aperture overlying the aperture 17 A bolt 31'extends throughthe aperture in plate 30 and in pin 16 and also through apertures inarms 32 and 33 on a clevis-like member [34,thus, securing said member 34for oscillation in a horizonplane to the pin 16 and plate 30. The

35 positioned. about in line with pin 16. A short tongue or drawbar 36is secured for oscillation in a vertical plane to said clevis 34 bymeans of a bolt 37 extending through the bifurcated end of said 'drawbarand through aperture 35 in the clevis 34. The drawbar 36 therefore isfree to oscillate in avertical plane upon the clevis 34 and to oscillatein a horizontal plane with the clevis 34 about the pin 31. The pull onthe drawbar 36 will prmcipally be transmittml inc , 26 connectedthereto.

' Upon the clevis 34 and extending in oppositedirection from arm 32 isan arm 38. A link 39 is pivotally connected at 40'to the end of arm 29and is connected with arm 38 by'means of a bolt 41. having an enlargedportion 42 journaled in link 39 and a smaller portion 43 extendingthrough a slot '44 in arm 38 which slot'will be curved in the arc of acircle having its center at 40. By

means of a'nut 45, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, the bolt 41 may be lockedin any desired position along the slot 44.

The above indicated mechanism operates in the following manner When thedrawbar 36 is oscillated in a horizontal plane 'it car- 'ries with. itthe clevis 34 and of course the arm 38 oscillating upon the pin 31. Whenthe bolt 41 is set eut from the bolt 31 a distance equal to the distancebetween point of. attachment 40 with link 39 and vertical 1 axes 24 ofwheel carrying axles 25, any

lateral movement of drawbar 36 angularly. with respect to the-axialcenter 31 of said [movement will effect a corresponding angular movementof arms 29 and carrying wheels 26., If, however, the bolt 41 is se- 35cured-in slot 44 at a point nearer the center of oscillation 31 ofdrawbar 36, the angular movement of arms 27 and wheels 26 will be lessthan the angular movement of drawbar 36 in pro ortion to the extent towhich etween bolt 41 and vertical the distance pivot 31 is less'than thedistance between vertical pivot points 24 and 40. As shown in. Fig. 5,eachof the drawbars connected wlth the front axles 18 has the link.39'set thereon so that the angular movement in ;a horizontal plane ofthe drawbar 36 and wheels 26 will be the same.

Each of the drawbars 36 extending from the rear axles 18, however, hasthe link 39 set on arm 38 closer to vertical pivot pin 31 so that theangular movement of wheels 26 will be less than that of the reardrawbars 36. As is well known, when a four-wheeled vehicle as usuallyconstructed (that is with the front wheels only oscillating relative tothe body of the vehicle) is driven around a curve thew front and rearwheels do not track. This.

is because the curve made by the front wheels is immediately transmittedto the body of the vehicle, and the rear wheels being rigid thereon areturned by the swinging of said body to such an extent as to throw thetrack of the rear wheels inside of the track of the front wheels.

In the practice'of my invention the drawspect to the front-wheels.

.ment' effected by the front wheels.

piece 0 where they receive the load and. then by bars 36 connected withfront and rear axles 18 and 19, respectively, are coupled together and;all of the sets of wheels 26 are controlled angularly by such drawbars.The front drawbar will, as above indicated,.constrain the front wheelsto move. angularly in uni- 'son therewith and the extent of movement ofsuch front drawbars determines the curve described by vehicles The reardrawbar of the first wa ofi of a train is connected to the front draw arof the succeeding wagon.

The draft of the engine or other means pulling the wagon will causethese pairs of drawbars to fall in a straight line, the relativeangularity of the rear drawbar' with respect to the rear wheels being inreverse order to that of the front drawbar with re- This will turn therear wheels out and the front Wheels in.

If the degree of turnin were the same for the rear wheels as for t efront wheels they would be drawn out too far since the swing of thewagon body on the rear wheels effects an excess of turnlng movement onsaid rear wheels'not equal to the full turn ng mogethe adjusting meansprovided, that is,

the connection of link .39 through elongated slot 44 with arm 38, theextent of outward turning of the rear wheels jmay be regulated relativeto the inward turning of the front wheels so that the rear wheels willexactly track with the front 'wheels. This relative turning action istransmitted inv the same proportion for the front and rear wheels ofeach of the wagons of the train, so that all of the wheels at one sideof the complete train of wagons will follow in the same track.

The rear wheels26 of the last wagon of the train may, by means ofarem'ovable link '46 extending from crossbar 12 to' arm 28, be heldlocked against oscillating movement. on axlebeam 19. It will thus beseen that the above wagons are absolutely reversible. The em ty wagonsmay be drawn over a f road in one direction to a point shifting thelinks 39- of the different wagons relatively and connecting the link 46at the rear of thewa on which runs last the train is immediate ypreparedfor reverse movement. The engine can then be attached and the loadedtrain of wagons drawn in reverse direction when the wheels thereof willtrack perfectly. The importance of the form of connection by which thedraft from one vehicle to another passes directly through the centralreach will be apparent when it is considered that the draft on thefrontdrawba'rand reach is equal to the force required to move the entiretrain of- The line of draft through the train is therefore alwaysdirectly-in an approximate 'arc comprising the connected wagons.

drawbars and the intermediate reaches extending centrally along thebottoms of the wagons. No draft strain is exerted upon the axles of anyof the wagons, which operate as supporting members for the carryingwheels solely.

I claim:

1. A wagon comprising a central reach, a box rigidly secured thereto, anaxle, a member fast on the reach upon which the axle is supported foroscillation in a vertical plane, and a drawbar having direct connectionwith said member.

2. A wagon comprising a central reach, a crossbar secured to the reach,a box rigidly secured to the crossbar and the reach, an axle, a memberfast on the reach upon which the axle is supported for oscillation in avertical plane, and a drawbar pivotally connected with said member andwith the crossbar.

3. A wagon comprising a central reach, a box rigidly secured 'thereto, abifurcated member straddling the end of the reach and rigidly boltedthereto, said member comprising a cylindrical pin extended in line withthe reach, an axle supported for oscillation in a vertical plane on saidpin, and a drawbar pivotallv connected with said cylindrical pin.

4. A wagon comprising a central reach, a crossbar secured to the reach,a box rigidly secured to the-crossbar andthe reach, a cylindricalsupporting pin secured to and in line with the reach, an axlesupportedfor oscillation in a vertical plane upon said supporting pin, aplate forwardly extended from a crossbar above the pin, said plate andpin being provided with alinedvertical apertures, a clevis having thepin thereofpassing through said apertures, and a drawbar connected foroscillation in a vertical plane with the clevis at a point approximatelyin line with the reach.

5. A wagon comprising a box and front and rear axles for supporting, thesame, said axles being held from oscillation in a horizontal plane,short axle sections secured by vertical pivots to the ends of each ofsaid axles,wheels on said axle sections, means connecting the front andrear pairs of axle sections to cause them to move in unison, front andrear drawbars mounted for oscillation-in a horizontalplane, meansconnecttendin ing each drawbar with the adjacent axle sections so thatoscillation of the drawbar will oscillate the axle sections, and meansfor adjusting said connecting means to vary the extent of oscillation ofsaid axle sections relative to that of the drawbar.

6. A wagon comprising a box and front and rear axles for supporting thesame, said axles being held from oscillation in a horizontal plane,shortaxle sections secured by vertical pivots to the ends of each ofsaid axles, Wheels on said axle sections, means connecting the front andrear pairs of axle sections to cause them to move in unison, front andrear drawbars mounted for oscillation in a horizontal plane, an arm onone of each pair of said axle sections, an arm for each drawbarconnected .to move therewith in a horizontal plane, a link connectingthe respective pairs of arms, and means for adjusting the points ofconnection oftsaid links with the last named arms to vary the extent ofoscillation of the axle sections relative to that of the correspondingdrawbar.

7. A wagon comprising a central reach, a box rigidly secured thereto, anaxle, a supporting pm fast on the reach upon which the axle is supportedfor oscillation in a vertical plane only, axle sections secured byvertical pivots to the end of said axle, wheels on said axle sections,means connecting the axle sections to cause them to move in unison, aclevis connected to said supporting pin for movement about a verticalaxis, a drawbar connected with said clevis so that lateral movement ofthe drawbar will move the clevis about the said vertical axis, an arm onone of the axle sections, a link pivoted to the end of said arm, an armon the clevis having a slot curved in the arc of a circle having itscenter at the point of pivotal connection of said link, and meansexthrough said slot for securing the link pivotally to the clevis arm atany desired point along the slot to vary the extent ,of oscillation ofsaid axle sections relative to that of the drawbar.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN M. WHEELOCK. Witnesses:

F. A. WHITELEY, H. A. Bowman.

